


Zoo life

by SugdenLovesDingle



Series: 7 Days of Robron 2018 [7]
Category: Emmerdale
Genre: AU, Fluff, M/M, single dad robert, zookeeper Aaron
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-21
Updated: 2018-08-21
Packaged: 2019-06-30 18:37:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,406
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15757428
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SugdenLovesDingle/pseuds/SugdenLovesDingle
Summary: 7 Days of Robron 2018Day 7: Robron + AU + “What are you afraid of?” “You.”single dad Robert + zookeeper Aaron AU





	Zoo life

**Author's Note:**

> it's DONE! a month a bit late but finally done!
> 
> this is based on a post/headcanon on tumblr posted AGES ago about single dad Rob taking his kids to see Aaron - who they know from tv. I changed it a bit though but I hope it's still enjoyable.

“Daddy!”

“Wake up!”

“Daddy! Wake up!”

“Yeah daddy, wake up!”

Robert groaned as two kids launched themselves onto his bed – and him.

“Alright, alright, I’m awake.” He said and sat up in bed. “What are you two doing here? You’re meant to be having a sleepover with auntie Vic until Saturday.”

“It is Saturday, daddy!”

“It’s monkey day!”

“Monkey d- oh right, yeah... you two go downstairs and turn the telly on. I’ll be down in a minute.”

“The monkeys are not on the telly today daddy. We’re going to see the real monkeys.”

“And giraffes.”

“Yes. And giraffes.”

Robert frowned and looked back and forth between the two kids until the proverbial light bulb switched on.

“Oh of course. The tour. Yes. Sorry guys I’ve just woken up.” He said, remembering the zoo tickets he’d won in the raffle at a charity event he’d been roped into attending for work. Tickets to the park and a private tour behind the scenes.

His twins Seb and Zoe were obsessed with a reality show about a wildlife park in Yorkshire. Robert never paid too much attention to it but the kids loved it and that was enough for him.

He’d taken them to the park once but of course thanks to the construction of a new enclosure, they hadn’t gotten to see everything they knew from tv. They had still loved every minute of it so the day hadn’t been completely wasted.

“We’re going to see the monkeys today aren’t we daddy?” Seb asked, crawling into his father’s lap.

“Of course sweetheart. I didn’t forget, I promise.” Robert said and pulled both his kids into a hug and kissed the top of their heads. “We’re going to have the best time today.”

“You better get your lazy butt out of bed then.”

Robert looked up and saw his sister Victoria stand in the doorway of his bedroom.

“Unless you want to go in your underwear.” She said and the kids giggled.

“Did you send the monsters to wake me up?”

“Simple and effective.” Vic joked and put a mug of tea down on Robert’s bedside table. “It’s almost 11 though, you should get a move on. The tour is at 1.”

“I know. Give me half an hour to shower and get dressed.” Robert said and rubbed the sleep from his eyes.

“Sure. Now come on you two, let’s go watch some tv downstairs.” Vic said ushering the kids out of the room.

“That was a risky move, sending them up here. What if I’d had someone with me?”

“Then they would’ve met your kids right away.” Vic shrugged. “And I didn’t see any underwear lying around anywhere so I figured it was safe.” She said and slapped Robert’s leg. “Now go get dressed while I entertain my lovely niece and nephew for a bit.”

\---

“Hi, we’re supposed to go on a behind the scenes tour, can you tell me where we’re supposed to be?” Robert asked a girl in a staff uniform when they got to the zoo.

The girl gave them a friendly smile.

“The tours pick up from the main entrance. If you just wait over there one of my colleagues will come pick you up.” She said and turned to the kids. “Is your dad spoiling you today with a special tour?”

“I uh, won it. Through work.” Robert explained when the kids just hid behind his legs, suddenly shy.

“Lucky you.” The girl said and gave him a quick wink before directing them to the pick-up point.

“She was checking you out.” Vic said, nudging him in the ribs while the kids tried to climb the animal statues near the entrance.

Robert made a face.

“I’m old enough to be her dad.”

“She was my age at least.” Vic argued

“Come on, up you go.” Robert said, ignoring his sister and lifting Seb up and putting him on the back of an elephant statue. “You too Zoe?”

“I want that one!” The girl said and pointed to a statue of a gazelle a meter or so away from them.

“Don’t you want to ride the elephant with your brother?”

The girl shook her head.

“No I want that one.”

“Alright.” Robert said and lifted her up. “Hold on tight ok? And don’t try to climb off on your own.” He warned her.

“Daddy, you need one too!” Seb decided.

“No, I’m fine just watching you two, buddy.”

“No daddy, come on. Please.”

“Go on Rob, just get on. I’ve got Zo.” Vic pushed

 “And let you take a photo and post it on Instagram again?”

“The ones from the Frozen birthday party got a lot of likes you know. Super dad.”

 “Fine.” Robert said after a minute. He could never deny his kids anything. Especially not when they were looking at him with those big blue eyes that reminded him of his own mother. “But only if auntie Vic gets on one too.”

He’d hoped that would have been his way out of the situation but unfortunately Vic was already climbing up on the gazelle statue behind Zoe.

Robert sighed and accepted his fate and hoisted himself up on the elephant behind Seb.

“Alright. Where are we going now?” He asked the boy, holding him tight around the waist. The statue wasn’t very high, if he stretched a little his toes could probably touch the ground, but he wasn’t taking any risks with his son.

“To elephant land!”

“Elephant land? And where is that?”

“I don’t know… but the elephant does.”

“Yeah? Do you think he knows where his home is? Just like auntie Vic’s silly cat?” Robert asked and looked over at Vic who was letting Zoe take a selfie of them with her phone.

“Do they have cats here too?”

“I don’t know. They have big cats though. Tigers and leopards.”

“Can we go see those?”

“We’ll ask the zookeeper when they get here.”

“Rob, Seb, smile!” Vic called out, trying to take a picture of the two of them with her phone while also holding onto Zoe.

“Do you need some help with that? I could take a photo of the four of you together.”

Robert looked up and saw a friendly smiling guy in a staff uniform take Vic’s phone from her. The same guy he’d met in a pub after his co-worker’s birthday party the night before. He tried to play it cool and pretend he was only interested in getting a nice picture of his kids and not the man taking it.

“Are you here for the tour?” The guy asked, giving Vic her phone back.

“Yes, it’s booked under Sugden.” Vic told him. “I’m Victoria, that’s my brother Robert, and my niece Zoe and nephew Sebastian.”

“Are we going with you?” Zoe asked.

“I hope so. Or else I’ll be lonely today.” The guy joked before turning to the adults. “I’m Aaron and I’m doing the tour today. There’s just been a slight mix up and they’ve double booked.”

“What do you mean double booked?” Robert asked, trying and failing to get down from the elephant with some of his dignity intact. “My kids have been looking forward to this for weeks.”

“I understand. They’ve just booked you in with a regular group so I’ve called in some help.” Aaron explained. “My colleague Adam will help me.” He said and nodded at a man in a staff uniform talking to a small group of people by the penguin enclosure next to the front gate.

“So, what you’re just putting the two groups together?”

“Basically. That way we won’t have to wait for the other group to finish and the kids can maybe help with the feeding of certain animals. You’ll still get the tour you paid for it just won’t be completely private.” Aaron told them. “We could try to reschedule if that’s a problem.” He added when Robert didn’t immediately reply.

“Can we go see the monkeys?” Seb asked, giving Aaron a hopeful look. “I like monkeys. I want to see them.”

“That’s up to your dad.”

“Daddy can we go with Aaron to see the monkeys?” The boy asked and Aaron laughed.

“I guess we better, hadn’t we? Can’t have you going home without seeing your favourite animal.” Robert told him and the smiles on both his kids’ faces were worth the awkwardness of spending an afternoon with the guy he’d spent the entire night flirting with only to end up in a bathroom stall together without even knowing each other’s name.

“Alright. Perfect. Follow me.” Aaron said and started walking towards the rest of the group. “Ads, let’s go!”

The other group consisted of what Robert guessed were about 2 -3 families with kids a few years older than Seb and Zoe and one entitled little brat he disliked instantly.

“Alright everyone, sorry for the wait and the mix up.” Aaron started as he walked backwards in front of the group. “I’m Aaron, this is Adam and we’ll show you around this afternoon. The only things we ask of you is to always remain calm around the animals and never attempt to feed or touch them unless we say it’s ok.”

“It’s almost feeding time for the big cats, so we’ll start there and see if we can have a little look in the kitchen.” Adam said and Aaron nodded.

“And if there are any questions, just ask. That’s what we’re here for.”

“How long have you worked here?” One of the other parents asked.

“Going on three years now, right Ad?”

“About that. We started with the giraffes and worked basically all over. And now Aaron is our wolf man and I usually work with the birds of prey.”

“Giraffes.” Zoe said quietly, pulling on Robert’s hand. “I like giraffes daddy, can we go see the giraffes?”

Aaron overheard and crouched down to talk to her.

“You like giraffes?”

Zoe nodded.

“Yeah? I do too. I’m Aaron, what’s your name?”

“Zoe.” She said softly.

“That’s a pretty name.” Aaron said, smiling brightly at the girl. “You know one of the giraffes just had a baby and another one will be born in a few weeks. Do you want to go see the baby giraffe?”

“Can we daddy?” Zoe asked, looking up at her father and back at Aaron.

“Aaron is in charge. If he says it’s ok then it’s ok.”

“Exactly.” Aaron said and got up. “Let’s go see a baby giraffe.” He held out his hand and the little girl took it, which surprised Robert, since she normally was very shy around strangers.

Aaron announced the change of plans to the group and the brat started complaining to his parents about wanting to see the lions. Robert wanted to feed him to the lions.

“Before we go in,” Aaron started, stopping the group in front of the doors to the giraffe enclosure, “I just want to remind you to be calm and quiet. We have a new born calf and a heavily pregnant mum to be and loud noises could scare and disturb them, and we wouldn’t want that, right Zoe?”

“Right!” the girl said, putting her pointer finger to her lips and shushing everyone.

Inside the enclosure Aaron told the group about the herd while Adam tried to get them to come closer to the fence so everyone could take a better look.

“And that right there is our baby.” Aaron said and pointed to a little giraffe that tried its best to hide between its mother’s legs.

“Is it a boy giraffe or a girl giraffe?” Zoe asked, standing on her tippy toes to see over the plants.

“It’s a girl.” Aaron replied, lifting her up and letting her stand on a knee-high wall so she could get a better look.

“What’s her name?”

“She doesn’t have a name yet.”

“Do you have an idea for a name? We’re having a competition.” Adam told her. “Maybe your dad can help you think of a name and then send it in via the website. And it might get picked.”

“Can we do that daddy?” Zoe asked Robert.

“Sure. We’ll have a look when we get home tonight.”

In the end they didn’t have enough time to go to the monkey house, but Seb didn’t mind in the slightest when Adam let him help feed a falcon called Elvis.

“Did you see what I did daddy?” Seb said excitedly.

Robert had given in and let the kids both pick something from the giftshop and Seb had chosen a giant stuffed falcon, that he was now pretending to feed his chips in the zoo’s restaurant.

“I gave it to him and he just grabbed it from my hand! And then he did nom, nom, nom, didn’t you Elvis?”

Robert smiled.

“I  know. That was really nice of Adam to let you help.”

“And you were so brave. You can tell your mates all about it at school on Monday.” Vic told the boy. “You know I was a little scared of Elvis. But Adam kept us safe didn’t he?”

Seb really wasn’t the only member of the family that had developed a soft spot for Adam.

“Daddy? Can we come back to see the other baby giraffe?” Zoe asked, combing the mane of her stuffed zebra.

“Sure. When it’s born. We’ll have to keep an eye on the news for it and then we can choose a day to come see it.” Robert promised.

“When will that be?”

“I don’t know. But we can subscribe to the zoo newsletter. So we won’t miss it.”

“Maybe Aaron knows.” Zoe said, pointing at Aaron who was just paying for a bottle of water.

“Yeah, go on Rob, go ask Aaron.” Vic pushed, grinning at her brother. “We’ll wait here.”

Robert glared at her but got up anyway, though he made a mental note never to tell his sister anything remotely concerning his love life ever again.

“Aaron, hi, uhm… do you have a minute?”

“I’ve got 15.” Aaron said with a smile.

“Right… uhm… I just want to say thanks… for the uh tour… thing. The kids loved it.”

“Sure. Just doing my job.”

“Yeah. Of course. Well… just… thanks. You do it well.”

“Thanks. Hopefully my boss agrees eh?”

“Yeah, yeah. I hope so. Well… uh… bye, then.” Robert said and turned to leave.

“Are you married? Or just not out?” Aaron asked and Robert froze. “Or did you just not like me?”

“No. I mean. I’m not married. And I am out. And single. The kids’ mum isn’t in the picture.” Robert explained, like he had so many times before.

Aaron nodded.

“You didn’t answer my last question though.”

“I uh… - ”

“Aaron I need your help for a minute.” A middle aged, bald man said, grabbing Aaron’s arm.

“Can’t it wait Paddy? I’m on my break.”

“Take a break later. It’s important. I kind of forgot mine and your mum’s anniversary. It’s today. I need to find a present for her.”

“Just book a table somewhere and you’ll be fine.”

“Help me find one?” the man asked and Aaron sighed.

“Alright. I’ll come find you in a minute. Your office?”

“Yes, yes, that’s good. Don’t forget please.”

The man left and Aaron turned back to Robert.

“Sorry about that. My step dad. Head of veterinary staff. Bit of a disaster with dates.”

“Right, well… you better go then I guess.”

“Yeah…” Aaron said and pulled a marker from his pocket and grabbed Robert’s hand. “Here’s my number, call me if you feel like answering my question.”

\----

Three days. The time it took Robert to find the courage to text Aaron.

_I did like you. Do. Drinks some time?_

They texted back and forth a few days but when Aaron stopped replying Robert convinced himself the other man wasn’t interested and he should move on. Until his phone rang as he was waiting outside the kids’ school to pick them up on a Thursday afternoon.

“Hi, sorry I didn’t reply earlier, work is a little crazy today. We have two schools in the park and they’re all awful. These kids are little monsters.” Aaron said when Robert answered.

“A bit like mine then.”

“God no, yours are angels. Especially compared to this lot. But I’m free now. They’re torturing the restaurant staff now.”

Robert laughed.

“No sympathy for your co-workers.”

“Not when there are better things I could be doing.”

“Are we still on for tomorrow?” Robert asked after a few moments of smiling at his phone like a lunatic.

“Definitely. I finish around 7 so we’ll meet up at 8? Same place as last time?”

“Yeah alright. The kids are sleeping over at my step mum’s so we’ll have all the time in the world.”

“Sounds great.”

The date the next day went well. Robert had been nervous and changed his outfit at least five times and got to the pub almost half an hour early, but within fifteen minutes of Aaron arriving, he felt like he’d known the other man for years.

And after a few beers he’d even felt confident enough to kiss him.

“Do you want to get out of here? My flat is close.” Aaron asked after they’d been snogging like teenagers for what felt like hours.

“I told myself I wouldn’t do that…” Robert trailed off.

“You don’t have to, if you don’t want to. We could just stay here.”

“I didn’t say I didn’t want to.”

\---

The next morning Robert was woken up by Aaron softly shaking his arm.

“Morning.”

“Morning. What time is it?”

“Just gone ten. You don’t have to go yet do you? I got you a cuppa.”

Robert sat up against the headboard and took the mug Aaron handed him.

“Thanks.”

“I didn’t know how you liked your tea so I just put milk and sugar in it. I wanted to make breakfast… but then I realised I didn’t know what you’d like. I don’t really know you that well yet.” Aaron admitted and Robert smiled at the blush creeping up on his cheeks.

“I’m not that interesting, I promise. But this is fine.” Robert said, taking a sip from his tea. “I usually just have a few bites of cereal while the kids get ready for school and then get a coffee on the way to work.”

“Hardly the breakfast of champions that.”

Robert shrugged.

“I don’t have much time for breakfast with two five year olds.”

“Well then let me treat you. I make a mean fry up, even if I do say so myself. There’s a shop around the corner, I’ll get some supplies, you just make yourself at home. I’ll be back in ten.”

“Don’t you have to work today?”

“Nope. Only every other weekend. So I’m all yours.” Aaron grinned and leaned in to kiss Robert, before quickly shrugging on some clothes and promising once again to be back in no time.

It turned out Aaron’s fry up skills were nothing short of amazing and it felt oddly domestic and _right_ to just sit in Aaron’s kitchen and have breakfast together while talking about their lives.

Robert told him about suddenly becoming a father to two three month old kids while living in a tiny flat in London, about his boyfriend at the time ending things because he wasn’t interested in dirty nappies, about trying to find the kids mother for years until eventually giving up, about moving up north to be closer to his family.

“Vic and Diane have been amazing with the kids. Still are. I wouldn’t have been able to do it without them.”

Aaron smiled.

“You looked like you had everything under control the other day.”

“We’ve gotten good at pretending.” Robert joked and tried to find out more about Aaron.

He quickly realised his biological father wasn’t something Aaron liked talking about and that the man he’d seen in the zoo was the only father he’d ever needed or wanted.

“He makes my mum happy, and he pushed me to follow my dreams.” Aaron shrugged. “And then I met Adam in college and he became my best friend.”

“I think he’s Seb’s best friend too now.”

Aaron laughed.

“Ah yeah the Elvis move. He usually uses it to impress single mothers through their kids.”

“It works on aunties too.”

The next few weeks they met up every chance possible. Both Diane and Vic were happy to spend time with the kids but Robert felt bad for missing out on so much quality time with them so he’d taken to driving halfway across town during his lunch break to sneak into the zoo via the staff entrance and share a sandwich with Aaron, so he could be at home with them in the evenings.

“You know… I was thinking… if you want it too… I mean… it’s ok if you don’t… if you think it’s too soon or… I don’t know…”

“Robert. Just spit it out.”

“I’m trying!” 

“What are you so afraid of?”

“You. Running a mile.”

“Why would I do that?”

Robert took a deep breath and looked Aaron in the eye.

“I uh… I want to tell the twins about us. If that’s ok with you.”

Aaron smiled and kissed him.

“Of course.”

“I was thinking maybe we could take them out for ice cream this weekend? Together? So they could meet you properly?”

“Bribe them with sugar. Alright. Smart move.” Aaron joked. “I’d love to meet them.”

\----

“Guys, come here for a sec.” Robert said, after clearing away the dishes from dinner, later that day.

“But dad we want to watch tv.” Seb complained.

“Pause it. This is important. I just want to talk to you two about something.”

Robert sat down in the armchair next to the tv, facing the twins as Seb did what he was told.

“Do you guys remember Aaron? From the zoo?”

“He took us to see the baby giraffe!” Zoe remembered.

“Yeah that’s right. Well… you see… Aaron… he’s special. To me. I like him. And uhm… we… hang out sometimes.”

“Is he your boyfriend?” Seb asked innocently and Robert was surprised the boy even knew the meaning of the word.

“Uhm… yeah, yes he is.”

“Are you in love with him?” Zoe asked.

“Yeah I think I am. What do you guys think about that?”

“Is he going to be our new daddy?”

“No, no, no, we’re not... we’ve only just started going out.” Robert said quickly. “But I want you guys to meet him. Properly. This weekend. We’ll go for ice cream together, is that ok?”

“Can we have chocolate ice cream?”

Robert smiled.

“Yeah I think we can make that work.”

\----

That Saturday, the four of them piled into a booth in the new ice cream parlour near Aaron’s flat. The kids were happily chatting to Aaron who showed them photos on his phone of the animals he worked with.

“This is Perro.” Aaron said, showing the kids a picture of a wolf all but sitting in his lap. “He thinks he’s a little puppy but he’s actually quite heavy. He likes to have a cuddle after he’s had his breakfast.”

“Perro?” Robert asked laughingly. “You have a wolf called dog? Who came up with that name?”

“I don’t know. He’s been there longer than I have, but I’ve stopped wondering about the names they’ve given the animals really. We have a penguin called Dumbo and capuchin monkey called Harry. Who is actually a Harriet rather than a Harry.” Aaron laughed

“Does the giraffe baby have a name yet?” Zoe asked Aaron.

“She does. They’ve named her India. Did you pick that name?”

The girl shook her head.

“Zoe picked Princess.” Robert explained.

“Really? I like that name way better.” Aaron said and Zoe giggled.

“Are you dad’s boyfriend?” Seb asked suddenly, bored with the conversation.

“Yes I am. And he is mine.” Aaron replied without missing a beat. “What do you think about that?”

Seb shrugged.

“It’s ok.”

“Are you going to get married?” Zoe asked.

“I don’t know. Maybe one day.” Aaron told her. “Right now I’m just a little bit in love with your dad and I hope he loves me too.” He said, looking over her head at Robert.

“Do you love Aaron, dad?”

Robert smiled and hoped his cheeks weren’t too red.

“Yeah, yeah I do.”

\---

That evening, Robert sank down on his sofa next to Aaron after putting the twins to bed, together.

After spending the afternoon together, the kids had insisted Aaron stayed for tea and then read them a story before bed.

“So, did I pass the test?” Aaron asked.

“Are you kidding me? They love you. I’ve been replaced.” Robert joked.

“Is that ok? I mean, I didn’t want to overstep or anything…”

“It’s fine. It’s more than fine. It’s perfect.” Robert said and pressed a kiss to Aaron’s lips. “These kids are my world… but it always was kind of a lonely one. Until I met you.”

“So… I rocked your world?” Aaron asked and they both laughed. “I meant what I said this afternoon though. I know I hadn’t said it yet and we hadn’t really talked about it… but I do love you.”

“Yeah? That’s good. Because I love you too.”

Robert leaned in and kissed Aaron, deepening the kiss until they heard whispering coming from the general direction of the stairs.

“Eww, they’re kissing!” Seb said a little too loudly and Zoe giggled.

“Oi you two, back to bed!” Robert told them, moving to get up from the sofa to make sure they did just that before Aaron stopped him.  

“On three, you grab one, I’ll grab the other.” He whispered and started counting.

Robert managed to grab Zoe while Aaron had grabbed Seb and thrown him over his shoulder, much to the boy’s delight. He watched as he carried him back up the stairs and back to his bedroom and tucked him back into bed, while he did the same to Zoe.

Six months ago he would’ve laughed in the face of whoever told him he’d be here today, head over heels in love with a man who loved him back and adored his kids.

“Daddy?” Zoe said just as Robert wanted to turn off the light again and follow Aaron downstairs.

“Yes sweetheart?”

“We like Aaron, can he stay forever?’

“I definitely hope so.”

**Author's Note:**

> comments/kudos always welcome and appreciated!
> 
> I'm sugdenlovesdingle on tumblr, come say hi!


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